JACKSONVILLE — Election officials in three counties said after what they consider a huge early voter turnout, they are unsure of how many will turn to the polls today for Election Day.

“As a rule, when we have a big early vote, then Election Day is not that heavy, but with a runoff you never know,” said Kathie Wittner, Rusk County elections administrator. “I hope people come out and finish it off with a big landslide win, one way or another.”

Officials said they believe the race for District 11 State Representative between incumbent Chuck Hopson, R-Jacksonville, and lawyer Travis Clardy, R-Nacogdoches, have motivated many to turn in their ballots, even after redistricting put the runoff election at the end of July. The state district includes Cherokee, Nacogdoches and Rusk Counties.

The race will be decided tonight, and all polling locations will be open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents must vote at their specific polling location indicated on their voter registration card. If a card has been lost, a precinct color-coded map is available on the Cherokee County elections administration’s website.

Connie Quine, Cherokee County chief deputy registrar for the Cherokee County Elections Department, said the county is preparing for a heavy turnout today “unless all those people who were going to vote in the election voted in early voting, but I don't think so.”

But, she said many voted early or on Election Day based around vacation schedules.

Deborah Gaston, Nacogdoches County elections administrator, said with the unexpected voter turnout, she thinks today's numbers will be “unpredictable.”

“We hope we have a great turnout (today), but I just don't know what to expect,” she said.

Cherokee and Rusk Counties will have election results posted on their elections administrator's website, and Nacogdoches County will post them on the county website's main page.  

Cherokee County officials said they anticipate having early voting tallies up sometime after 7 p.m., Nacogdoches officials said they expect those results to be available around 7:30 p.m. and Rusk County said their should be up sometime around 7 p.m.

The final numbers, officials said, will depend on how quickly each polling location can run machine reports and drive them to their respective courthouses.

“The county its not so huge in population but it is in squares miles, so it takes us a while to get to some of those locations,” Gaston said.